Juozas Rimas wrote:

>What can you say about Vivaldi's music? Like many, I know the Four Seasons
>and I like them.  However, after finding out Vivaldi has written the total
>of almost 50 concerti, 39 operas, 23 symphonies etc, I started to worry
>about the relation of quantity and quality.  Could you please assure me
>the seasons are his best work and I don't have to bother digging deeper?

Vivaldi wrote some 480 concertos, 22 symphonies, 85 sonatas, 50-94 operas
and 60 sacred works.  The old saying that "he didn't wrote many works, only
many times the same work" is partly true, due to the huge amount of music
he produced, but you cannot reduce his work to four concertos.  It wouldn't
be the correct approach a composer who influenced his contemporaries
throughout Europe.

Wonderful are the 12 concertos "L'estro armonico" op.3, the 12 concertos
"Il cimento dell'armonia e dell'invenzione" op.8 (the first four are The
Seasons), and the 6 flute concertos op.10.  I would also add the Gloria
RV.589.

This could be a nice starting point.  Time to start worrying...

Roberto Strappafelci